Human Error

by Eileen Wilks

She raised her brows.

  “Destroy the ring now, and when you see him, don’t allow yourself to hesitate. Let instinct guide you.”

  “Who are you?” she asked, unable to move away from his glowing warmth.

  “Don’t waste time on things that are of no consequence to you, Kate. Ask important questions as your education and experience would dictate.”

  “Why should I destroy Nathaniel’s ring?”

  “That ring was forged in the flesh of a future angel. Gadreel flamed the ring and burned Nathaniel with it, leaving a scar that never fades. Hatred bound them together, demon and angel, in an epic battle. When the angel’s wings are fully formed, he will take up the dagger and hunt, the urge irresistible. They track each other through the ring, drawn to the symbol of their malice. Destroy the reminder, and you’ll spare him the memories for that much longer.”

  “He doesn’t remember what happened?”

  “Not yet. I was given permission to alter the course of his memory’s return.”

  “Why? By whom?”

  He smiled. “Nathaniel was not born an angel. He was human, and after nineteen hundred years his heart needs more than vengeance. It seeks what it lost. Love. In you, I saw a spirit that suited his. So I showed you to him. When the ring was torn from his finger during their battle and fell to earth, I cast it into your path and let you see it. You took it up and kept it of your own accord. The angel chief of war thinks Nathaniel carelessly let the rain hydrate the blood and soak your skin, that you were bound by an angel’s blood by accident. I say there was nothing accidental about Nathaniel’s distraction. He did not dry the water from his skin before taking the ring and you had it clutched in your hand while you slept for a reason. In anticipation of each other.”

  “But he never talked to me. Never introduced himself. It’s been years since that night. If we’re so fated, why did he ignore me all this time?”

  “Ignore you?” The angel’s laughter warmed her skin like sunshine. Her muscles loosened and relaxed. She felt that she could have lain on the nearby bench and slept for an age.

  She shook herself, trying to steel herself against the effect his presence had. “Cut it out,” she growled.

  “So you think he’s ignored you? Lovely Kate, I want you to remember something. The investigation for which you won your great award—do you recall the details of that day?”

  “Of course. The discovery of that nest of vampires changed my life.”

  “In the cave, when your flash woke the oldest, the most powerful, you ran toward the cave’s yawning mouth, toward the sunlight, but you knew you wouldn’t make it. You’d gotten too close. You felt the brush of cold fingers, and sharp nails grazed your skin when you were still eight feet from freedom. What happened?”

  Adrenaline spiked her blood at the memory of that terrifying moment. If that vampire had gotten a firm hold, her bones would’ve joined the pile of human remains in that cave. “I got lucky. The vamp tripped.”

  “Are ancient vampires clumsy? And even if one stumbled, could you outrun it once it regained its balance?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying something watches over you. I’m saying a warrior angel waded into the shadow and when that vampire reached out and would have grabbed you and dragged you back, a deadlier creature struck him down. You travel to the most dangerous places on earth and live in solitary safety because you claim the attention and the protection of an archangel.”

  Her jaw dipped open as her mind reeled. Had Nathaniel been there? It shocked and pleased her to think so. She wished she’d realized . . . had been able to thank him . . . to touch him. “He never spoke to me or made himself known.”

  “He fears it.”

  Why? I’d never have rejected him. I wanted to find him so badly! “Fears it because he’s shy?” she mumbled, confused.

  “No, because he sensed if he got so close, he would not be able to pull back. Angels belong to Heaven. They may not consort with humans.”

  “Never?”

  He shook his head.

  “Then why show us to each other?” she cried, sharp pain piercing her heart. She couldn’t have Nathaniel. “That’s cruel! Why let us meet now when nothing can come of it?”

  He frowned, casting a thousand shadows that chilled her skin. “If you believe it’s a hopeless cause, it will be. I don’t offer a solution. Only a choice. For him and for you.”

  “Why? When there isn’t time enough for us to commit? I’m sure his wings will be finished forming soon. When? How long?”

  “Hours.”

  “Hours?” she snapped. “But we’ve just met. We barely know each other.”

  “I’ve shown you what you needed to see. You’ve felt his pain and know his character. Take action or do not. I only offer a chance. The rest must be chosen.”

  As Nathaniel used his invitation to enter the hotel, he heard music emanating from the ballroom. B. B. King sang “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Nathaniel smiled. He’d been to a King concert in Philadelphia sometime in the 1970s. He’d listened from the stadium rafters.

  Nathaniel wasn’t sure if he’d loved music when he’d been human, but once he’d become an angel, he couldn’t resist it. The original angels had invented dancing, and a passion for music had been passed to every generation since.

  When Nathaniel spotted Kate, she was laughing, and he thought there might be something he could love as much as music.

  On his way across the ballroom, he encountered Alissa whom he recognized from a picture that Merrick had shown him. Nathaniel wanted to ignore his promise to Merrick because he hated for anything to delay him reaching Kate, but an archangel’s promise had to be honored.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hello.” Alissa smiled, and Nathaniel noted that she smelled nice, of fresh and powerful magic and pretty perfume. Still, it didn’t move him the way the scent of Kate’s skin did when they were close.

  Nathaniel removed Merrick’s gift from inside his jacket and passed it to Alissa.

  “A present. How kind of you, but unnecessary, Mr.—?”

  “I’m Nathaniel, and that’s not from me.”

  “Kate’s friend Nathaniel?” she asked, her gaze darting around. “I thought you had a run-in with Director Easton at the gate. How did you get into the party?”

  “I was able to acquire an invitation.”

  “That’s not possible,” she said. “Grant’s here, you know? Why don’t you wait in the lobby, and I’ll send Kate?”

  Nathaniel shook his head. “You have a different appointment. You’re supposed to open that on the balcony of the second floor bar at ten thirty.”

  “According to whom?”

  He leaned forward and whispered, “According to the man who sent it. He couldn’t deliver it himself because he’s infamous.”

  Her cheeks turned the color of pink roses. In a cool voice that didn’t betray the flush, she said, “It was very kind of you to bring me a gift. Come with me.” She took his arm and turned him. “Director Easton is headed this way,” she said. “If you want to talk to Kate, you’d better hurry before he spots you and ES throws you out.”

  Nathaniel smiled. “Forcing me to leave before I’m ready isn’t as easy as it might seem.”

  Alissa tilted her head, causing the jewels dangling from her ears to sway. “You want to make her happy, not cause trouble, don’t you?”

  He felt the persuasive magic in her voice. Magic didn’t affect him, but he understood why humans would be influenced by it. “I don’t want trouble. I just want Kate.”

  “Glad to hear it,” she said, gliding gracefully away.

  Nathaniel glanced at the clock. Ten twenty-five. He hoped she found the balcony in time.

  Merrick stood at the open window of the suite he’d rented for Nathaniel. Two stories down and across the street, the second-floor balcony door opened. Merrick raised his binoculars and waited, his muscles tight with anticipation.

  In all the y
ears that he’d been sending Alissa North gifts, he’d never seen her open one. Just as she’d never seen him open one of her letters. A law, a wall, and hundreds of security officers separated them and probably always would. And yet the exchange of letters and gifts didn’t stop.

  Alissa stepped out and stood just under the lamp.

  “Exactly there,” he murmured.

  She glanced around, but even if she looked up she wouldn’t see him. There were no lights on in the suite. He stood, as he lived, absorbed in darkness. The single spot of white light in his world wore a silvery blue dress and carefully removed the indigo tissue paper from her present.

  Alissa claimed that she couldn’t keep the gifts he sent, which goaded Merrick to find something she wouldn’t be able to part with. Alissa came from the line of muses who inspired authors, and he’d read that she collected rare books. In an interview, she’d once talked about how the world becomes what a person perceives it to be, quoting a line from John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost. “The mind in its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”

  Merrick had liked the line, too, and so a search was begun that took two years.

  When Alissa finished unwrapping the 1669 edition of Paradise Lost, her hand fluttered to her mouth in surprise.

  Merrick grinned. “I defy you to give that away.”

  She stared at the book for several long moments and shook her head.

  “Yes, that was extremely hard to acquire,” he said, imagining what she was thinking. “And worth every penny to see your face when you opened it.”

  She glanced up, and it was as though she looked right at him. Those eyes, so pale and blue, trapped him in her gaze. A second later, she looked around again. Then she touched her lips and extended her fingers, blowing a kiss into the night.

  He didn’t move, didn’t breathe. She stood still as a statue, too. It was like being frozen in time together. Snow began to fall, casting her as an angel in a snow globe.

  Her lips moved silently. “Merry Christmas, Merrick.”

  He exhaled slowly, every inch of him alive for a girl he’d never even kissed. Whispering, he said, “Merry Christmas, Alissa.”

  “Hello, Kate.”

  She glanced over her shoulder and found Nathaniel, tuxedo clad and as beautifully bronze as ever. Her heart sped to a pounding rhythm on a rush of heady adrenaline. Normally, she would have hesitated, but nothing was normal anymore. She was elated to see him unhurt and looking for her. If she’d been through all he had, she would’ve gone into the revenge business, too, and never looked back, never noticed a girl. But here he was, and it felt like a missing part of her had been returned.

  Her heart thudded, her throat burned, and her eyes stung as she stepped forward. She slid her arms around his neck and hugged him, shocked by how amazing it felt to touch him.

  “Hi,” she whispered.

  His arms folded around her. “Kate, you’re trembling.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been through a lot today. So have you, of course.” She started to step back, but his grip tightened.

  “Don’t go yet. Doesn’t this feel right?” he asked, his voice deep and earnest. “When I was wounded, you were my comfort. Now you’re shaking; I’ll be your strength. I’d like to give you what you need. Or want. I won’t ask you what that is . . . though it could make things more—but perhaps not—” The corner of his mouth turned down, and he shook his head, then added something in a foreign language.

  She chuckled. “What was that last part?”

  “Etruscan. You don’t speak Etruscan, do you?”

  “No.”

  “Good,” he said.

  She tipped her head back, looking him in the eye. “And neither does anyone else, other than you.” She smiled at him. “You should let me go. People are starting to stare.”

  “If we danced, I wouldn’t have to let you go, right?”

  “I don’t really dance.”

  “Why not?” he asked, sounding as surprised as if she’d said “I don’t really eat.”

  “That’s not important right now, is it?” Her palms slid off his shoulders, and she drew her hands back, leaning away. “I still have your ring. Do you remember how you got it?”

  He shook his head.

  “Nathaniel, there are things we need to talk about.”

  “Of course, Kate. We can do whatever you’d like.”

  Wow. That created a riot of pleasure in every part of her.

  She slid the ring from her thumb, but hesitated. Could she put it on him and risk that the memories would come flooding back to him in so public a place? She closed her fist around the ring and dropped her hand to her side. She stared at his untroubled eyes. She always wanted to know every secret, but his past . . . those memories were so destructive; anyone sane would be happy to forget them. “But maybe that can wait a little longer. What do you want to talk about?”

  “I’d like to hear about your work.”

  “Wow,” she said. “You really are five shades of irresistible.”

  He smiled. “That may be because I’m an angel.”

  “No, it’s more than that,” she said, then she saw Grant Easton approaching, and her smile faded. “And here comes trouble. We cannot catch a break.”

  Nathaniel looked over his shoulder, then back at her. He inclined his head to speak in her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin. “I still want to dance with you.” He released her and turned.

  “This is a private party,” Grant said coolly.

  “I came to see Kate.”

  “You’ve seen her.”

  Nathaniel looked Grant up and down. “I have no wish to interfere with the performance of your duties, but I will not leave her.”

  “Then we have a problem,” Grant said, sliding a hand inside his tuxedo and unsnapping a shoulder holster.

  Kate sucked in a breath, catching Nathaniel’s arm. “It’s too crowded to dance here. Let’s leave.”

  “Yes,” Nathaniel said to Kate. To Grant, he added, “No need to die tonight, Mr. Easton.”

  Grant bristled and shook his head at Kate in disapproval.

  Looking at Grant she said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t know him.”

  “Neither do you,” Grant said, frowning.

  Yes, I do.

  She threaded her fingers through Nathaniel’s, tightening her grip on his hand. When they reached the lobby, she realized she hadn’t needed to worry about a scene erupting. Nathaniel hadn’t given Grant a second glance, and Grant hadn’t interfered with her decision to leave. Kate was grateful for reasonable men.

  “I have a room here,” she said.

  “Does your room have a balcony that looks over the city?”

  “No,” she said with a smile. “I may work with a muse, but I don’t have her bankroll. Because of tonight’s event, this hotel is booked solid with people who can afford to pay a lot for a great view.”

  “Well, I have a balcony to my room. At the hotel across the street.”

  “You have a room at the Grand?”

  “A suite, yes. For the night,” he said, nodding. “Will you come?”

  With a slow smile, she said, “Yes.” Her gown whispered over the lobby carpet as they crossed to the front doors. “But aren’t you worried about ruining my reputation by taking me there?”

  “No,” he said, holding the door for her.

  “You remember that the world has changed?”

  “Yes.” He paused. “Also, I plan to convince you to marry me.” Her brows rose, and he flashed a smile, stepping outside. “A handfasting ceremony is easily accomplished.”

  “What kind of—?” Kate didn’t complete the question on the tip of her tongue because the words evaporated when she spotted a killer.

  Chapter Seven

  “Shit. It’s Merrick,” Kate said.

  “You know him?”

  “Of him. The ventala have sent their biggest gun after you. And he’s not alone,” she said. “That pair next t
o the black sedan are the son and daughter of the syndicate boss. And the guys getting out of the car are more ventala. A hit squad,” she said, yanking his arm, trying to pull him back toward the Clarity.

  “No, Kate,” Nathaniel said, standing firm. “Archangels don’t run. If Merrick has betrayed me, I will deal with him. And anyone else who confronts me.”

  She blinked at the set of Nathaniel’s jaw. One moment he was all romantic innocence. The next he was harder than bronze and battle ready.

  Nathaniel caught her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. “Please wait for me inside, Kate. I’ll try not to be very long.”

  An incredulous sound rose from her throat.

  “Go ahead.”

  “Like hell,” she said, yanking open her purse and clutching the antique dagger she’d taken from a wall display in Alissa’s house. Kate would’ve preferred something with firepower, but the muses collected things for their historical significance and beauty, not for actual use.

  “You’re carrying a weapon?” Nathaniel asked. “Don’t you trust me to protect you?”

  “I know you’re very capable, but we’re often pretty outnumbered.”

  “I’m outnumbered. That need not be a risk to you, Kate. Go inside where you’ll be safe.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re very outnumbered, and Merrick’s extremely deadly.”

  Nathaniel blinked and then grinned. “You want to stay to help me? To protect me?”

  She glared at him.

  Nathaniel fought to banish his smile. “That you feel the need to assist me in a fight is both insulting and endearing, but you are out of your depth and are smart enough to know it.”

  She pursed her lips, still holding the dagger’s hilt. “How about a compromise? I’ll go inside and watch from the window. If you don’t get wounded, I’ll stay in the lobby. But if it looks like you’re losing, I’m coming out.”

  He glanced at her as they crossed the street.

  “Got that?” she asked. “Don’t lose.”

  “I have plans for us tonight, Kate. I won’t lose.”